The Beauty Cult guide to surviving flu

I've had flu. I'm not a hypochondriac, and I'm not prone to exaggeration. This was actual flu. A friend shared her definition of flu: If you are lying on the sofa feeling terrible and you see a £50 note blowing about in your garden, do you get up and get it. And the answer was no, because I was just too ill.

Flu, or even a bad cold, takes its toll on your entire body. My skin and hair really suffered, so what beauty products (when I could be arsed to apply them) did step up to the mark?

Kamillosan Ointment
My number one flu saviour is one of my favourite products of all time. And also one of the cheapest I own. Best known as a nipple cream for breastfeeding mums, I first bought this as a nappy rash cream for my daughter, but she's a grown-up seven year old now, and I still buy this cream for as it has infinite uses.

Blowing your nose (repeatedly) makes the skin on your nose dry, red and sore, we all know that. Kamillosan Ointment, applied in copious amounts at night time, and thinly throughout the day when you've got the sniffles, works wonders to avoid Rudolph syndrome.

I have also used this cream for: eczema, dry skin, those weird rashes kids get and no one can explain, on scabby knees etc to stop my daughter picking them, on the random dry skin she gets behind her ears and on my face after a VI Peel (ouch). Seriously, this stuff rocks. And it's got no nasties in it and costs around £4 from any chemist.

Karin Herzog Oxygen Body 3%
This cream actually pushes oxygen into the skin, and oxygen is anti bacterial, anti viral and generally a fantastic thing for the body. I applied this to my neck (I had a very sore and swollen throat) during my flu, and definitely felt the benefit. It's £35 from KarinHerzog.co.uk, lasts ages and has a multitide of other uses including detoxing, getting rid of stretch marks and scars, acne, sun damage and sun burn.

Jan Marini Anti Oxidants Recover E
However crap you feel, apply a night cream. Colds and flu your skin really dehydrate your skin, and this cream puts the moisture back in like nothing else I've ever tried. It's around £40 for a small pot, but a little goes a long way. I don't use this evey night, just when my skin feels like it needs some extra tlc.

Macadamia Healing Oil Hair Treatment
I raved about this stuff before, and with good reason. My already dry, knackered hair really suffered last week. I was too ill to wash my hair every day, but when I did an application of this stuff put lots of moisture back into my sorry looking locks. It's getting harder to track this product down, I've just ordered some from Luxuryhaircare.com, great site - ordered on Sunday, they're delivering on Tuesday.


So, what else did I learn during my week of flu?

• Loose Women is best when Kate Thornton is presenting.
• No medicine helps, so don't waste your money, you just need to sweat it out (nice).
• Not wearing make-up for five days makes wearing it again more fun.
• My husband is not a natural nurse.

Macadamia vs Moroccan - war of the hair oils!

Regular readers will know all about my mission to repair my very damaged hair. If you've missed out on my whinges about it, read this post, as this is another instalment.

This week I've been trying the Moroccan Oil range. I'm a big fan of the Macadamia range, and I imagined this would be similar, but there are some differences, so I thought it would be worth comparing the two.

I use Macadamia Deep Repair Masque as a daily conditioner, yes that's how dry my hair is, and so far on this quest, it's the best product I've tried. It smells lovely, is very thick and rich and leaves my hair feeling in the best condition it's been in in years. But I HAVE to use it every day.

Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment is a great product. You apply it to wet hair and then dry as usual. It smells lovely, feels great and really helps smooth and soften my hair.
The Moroccan Hair Oil comes in a really cool medicinal looking bottle, and smells utterly divine. Seriously, I could sniff this stuff all day.

The Intense Hydrating Mask doesn't smell as yummy as the oil, it has a more artificial fragrance, and it's not as thick as the Macadamia. I used it in the shower, leaving on for around 7 mins. To be honest I know I'll get a better result if I leave it on longer, and although I try to do a deep conditioning treatment once a week, I need a product that's going to help on a day-to-day basis, as I'm a busy girl.

I then use the oil on wet hair, and dry it in. Both products (the Macadamia and the Moroccan oil) claim to reduce drying time, and I really think they do. Both have a similar effect on my hair, it's much, much softer than usual but the Moroccan leaves it a little fluffy, with the Macademia it tends to be more well behaved.

I get a good result with both of these ranges, and I'd recommend them to anyone who needs to put some moisture back into their hair, but I do think that Macademia has the edge over Moroccan. However, while they're working in the short term, my worry is that the condition of my hair isn't vastly improving overall - and that's something I really need to fix.

So my quest continues, further updates soon!

Help my hair is broken!

This is no exaggeration. Years of abuse has left my hair damaged beyond belief. You'd think I'd know better wouldn't you? But no, I'm a fool. A fool with broken hair.

So let's assess the damage.

I have very dark hair, the darkest brown without being black. And I started to go grey at around 26, so now, at 39, I really can't go more than 5 weeks without having my roots re-coloured. These days I always go to a salon, but once upon a time I also coloured it myself. So that doesn't help.

I also have inbetweeny hair. Naturally it's neither straight nor curly, so I've been in a constant battle with it to straighten things out. This had led to:

Using straightening irons for 20 years.

Yuko straightening system, twice. Once was great, once was ok (as in hair was straight) but it did dry the ends out.

IHR straightening, twice. Once was truly great. The second, a few years later was terrible. I'm still suffering the consequences, literally broken hair, frizzy dried out areas, just awful.

Brazilian Keratin permanent blow dry, twice. Once left me with a scaly, itchy scalp, but my hair was great. The second time it was kept away from scalp (but  itchy, flaky problem still happened) and really dried out the ends.

My current survival system is:
Kerastase Bain Divalent Balancing shampoo
Macadamia Deep Repair Mask
Macadamia Healing Oil Treatment

And as of last night I'm adding Origins Organics Hair Treatment Oil as an overnight treatment, which I'm currently pleased with. But for me the real test is whether it stays soft during the day, or just gets drier and drier as the day progresses. So I'll update you on this one.

I also get a trim every five weeks.

But really this is just maintenance, things aren't getting worse, but they're sure not getting any better. So if anyone out there knows how to save my hair please let me know, I'll really try anything.

PS I've Just found out that Origins Organic Hair Oil is now only available via the Boots website, not from Origins stores or counters. Shame, I'm liking it so far.

Philip Kingsley Elasticizer

I always feel terribly let down when a cult product doesn't live up to the hype, and Philip Kingsley  Elasticizer has been a big let down.

I've ranted about my hair before. It's dry, brittle, over processed, and pretty sad. I'd been meaning to give Elasticizer a go for ages, so when some arrived on my desk I was keen to try it.

Rather than apply like a normal conditioner, you use Elasticizer before you shampoo. You can apply in the shower and leave it on for a few minutes or leave it for 25-30mins covered with a shower cap (which is supplied). Now admittedly I haven't tried the shower cap part, and maybe I should, but I did leave it on for at least 7mins and I really can't see much difference. The results from using my trusty Macadamia Deep Repair Mask are much better.

Maybe I'm just impatient, but I expected a better result. I should try the full shower cap on for 30mins routine, but it's hard enough to schedule a 30mins hair treatment in without being really sure it's going to give me a glossy mane!

Which cult beauty products have you found disappointing?